The first volume of Paul Freeman's exciting exploration of modern trends.

James Kimo Williams is a versatile composer who has written both serious and commercial works. He is a faculty member of Columbia College in Chicago and writes the following: "Fanfare for Life was commissioned by AT&T and premiered May 6, 1994 by the Chicago Sinfonietta at Orchestra Hall in Chicago under the baton of Paul Freeman. I composed this work in direct response to the outgrowth of gang violence during that same year." Richard J. Rendleman, Jr. was born in 1949 in Salisbury, North Carolina and holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he currently serves as Professor of Finance. At age 32, he began studying with the Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Robert Ward. As a result has written a number of works for piano, chorus, Chamber ensemble and Orchestra. "October 9, 1943 serves as the second movement of my First Symphony, completed in 1997. The music is based on a poem of the same title by my grandfather's cousin, Margaret Proctor Wood. The Chamber version of Runagate, Runagate was first performed at the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta in 1990. Subsequently, the Orchestral version was premiered by the Savannah Symphony in 1994 with William Brown for whom the work was written. Wendel Logan is on the faculty of Oberlin College. "The text and title of my composition are based on Robert Hayden's collage poem "Runagate, Runagate," which was taken from the collection Angle of Ascent (1975). Richard Yardumian's (1917-1985) Chorale-Prelude Veni, Sancte Spiritus was premiered by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on April 3, 1959 and performed over 100 times during his tenure. Peter Saltzman has written extensively for dance and theatre groups as well as for Orchestra. He is very active in the Chicago musical scene and writes the following: "I wrote Walls during a three week period in December, 1995 and January, 1996. It was commissioned by Kevin Iega Jeff, choreographer of the Dallas Black Dance Theatre, which premiered a synthesized version of the work in February, 1996."

Review:

"...The earliest work is the loveliest: Richard Yardumian's plainsong-inspired Veni, Sancte Spiritus, commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1959, with delicate clarinet and harp solos and serene strings. Ormandy programmed the work over 100 times. One can see why. Albany offers a vivid, highly reverberant recording." (American Record Guide)